This morning, most Christians attended church services and listened to a reading while today’s purple candle for the fourth week of Advent was lit from the pink “joy” candle that we discussed last week. This purple candle is the Love candle, signifying the upcoming arrival of the Jesus next week. It’s also called the Angel candle, as the arrival of Jesus was first announced to the shepherds in fields by the angels who came down from heaven.
In seminary, I loved studying theology and one of my favorite courses was Angelology and Demonology. Of course, it is the study of angels and demons; including the mission of angels and how God uses them to advance His will on earth.
One of the many things that it is interesting to note is that the the greatest number of angels that we read about in the Scripture happens when Jesus is present on the earth. It is generally regarded that the earth represents the dominion of Satan while heaven is the dominion of God. We know in reality that God has has dominion over all creation but, for the time being, God allows Satan the run of the earth.
We also know that once Jesus entered or even “invaded” the dominion of Satan, we experience the greatest appearance of angels. We read that there were legions of angels that Jesus could have called on during his 4o days of wandering in the wilderness. But the real tip off is that angels are front and center during the story of the birth of Jesus. And we read that the entrance of Jesus is announced by angels speaking to the shepherds in the fields – hence, the moniker “Angel candle.”
This week, the meditation is all about the love of God for His people, created in His image. This love was manifested by God taking on a physical presence; sending His Son to earth in human form. Jesus was fully God, yet also fully human. And any Christian knows that the ultimate mission of Jesus on earth was to eventually die for the sins of everyone by being crucified on a cross.
Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there – Jesus was raised from the dead in the resurrection story and ultimately ascended to His Father in heaven to reign eternally. We then witness the beginning of the church and what is referred to as the “church age” – the period of time that we are theologically in today if you happen to follow dispensational theology.
It is also important to note that angels are the first created beings and are “over” mankind of earth but serve mankind in heaven. And angels have very special missions for God – such as escorting believers to heaven and making announcements for God. It is that mission that angels were fulfilling when they announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the fields. We sing about that magnificent time in carols such as “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing…”
So the arrival of our Lord and Savior was accompanied by angels – announcing the greatest love of all time – God for His people! Our verse for tonight is the entire doctrine of faith summed up in one verse – in the Gospel of John. John, the disciple Jesus loved, tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Begotten Son; that whosoever believes in Him shall never die, but have everlasting life.”
Notice that the beginning of this greatest of verses is that God LOVED the world and this love was made even more apparent by the appearance of Jesus. My encouragement this evening is that God loves us all more than we can possibly imagine. And my prayer is that we will spend time this week reflecting on the upcoming celebration of the birth of Jesus in a lowly stable in the town of Bethlehem. It’s only a week away and on Christmas Eve we will light the Christ candle – the white candle in the center of the Advent wreath. Because Jesus is the center of it all – hope, peace, joy and love – commemorated by the candles we have lit this month as we wait for His arrival on earth. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…